Those of us who have or have had young children are very familiar with the phrase: "enjoy this time because they grow up so fast", usually offered by a wizened parent of older children at a time when our own children have gone completely bonkers.
Though initially annoyed by this admonition, I've grown to not only completely embrace this outlook (most of the time), but I've been looking to apply it to other areas of my life where things aren't quite the way I want them to be.
As I wrote in Perfectionism (Pt. 1), I have come to the realization (obvious to most) that perfection will not be realized in my lifetime. But just realizing something is wrong and forsaking the idea is not enough: action needs to be taken. (Often, some of us excel at the "don'ts" of the faith, but forget to apply the "dos")
In this case, the action that I feel the Lord is asking me (and us) to take is to enjoy and appreciate this ride of life through its ups and downs, and learn to exalt God and maintain the joy of the Lord (cf. Nehemiah 8:10) during even the painful times. As Dan Schaffer writes in his book "Spiritual Fathers", during periods of doubt and trials, merely "staying in the battle" in a victory in itself.
Let us therefore run this race of life with patience (Hebrews 12:1): patience with ourselves and with those surrounding us, rejoicing in the "ride", knowing that God with eventually perfect not only us (1 Peter 5:10), but all of creation (Romans 8:21).
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